Having grown up\u202fin the west African country of Benin,\u202fwhen two-time Oscar-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou immigrated to the US in 1990 to pursue his acting dreams, he felt a pain he could not ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI certainly felt a tremendous void, and that void is due to the lack of knowledge of who we are: our backstory, meaning our history, ancestral roots, and culture,\u201d Hounsou told CNN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI felt this profound disconnect with African Americans,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Hounsou landed his leading role in Steven Spielberg\u2019s 1997 film \u201cAmistad,\u201d the powerful story of the slave trade, a harsh reality that affected much of the Black diaspora was exposed to him in a new way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs I was doing research for the film, I became profoundly aware of the disconnect of Afro-descendants from their roots and culture,\u201d explained Hounsou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As his career progressed, the actor gained a deeper understanding of the lasting effects of slavery through the systemic racism he says he faced over his 30-year journey in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI came here for a dream, and I\u2019m realizing that systemic racism was in all things you see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite starring in numerous blockbuster films such as \u201cGladiator,\u201d \u201cShazam,\u201d and the \u201cA Quiet Place\u201d franchise, and earning Oscar nominations as Best Supporting Actor for \u201cIn America\u201d in 2004 and \u201cBlood Diamond\u201d in 2007, Hounsou says he has encountered challenges like those experienced by other Black actors in Hollywood, including being typecast and receiving unfair compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis conceptual idea of diversity, it still has a long way to go,\u201d Hounsou explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith two Oscar nominations I\u2019m still struggling financially to make a living. That\u2019s a sign for you that systemic racism is not something you can deal with lightly, it\u2019s so deep inserted into so many things that we do across the board.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These harsh truths were the catalyst for his philanthropic mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The actor launched the Djimon Hounsou Foundation in 2019, an initiative dedicated to bridging the Black diaspora and combating modern-day slavery. However, the core of Hounsou\u2019s work centers around reconnecting Black people to their African roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He approaches that work through Africa Reconnect, a series of music and cultural events currently held in Richmond, Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last September, CNN attended Hounsou\u2019s third annual Run Richmond 16-19 event in a town that was once a central hub of the transatlantic slave trade in the Upper South of the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hounsou set the tone for the weekend with a kickoff event called \u201cA Time to Heal,\u201d held in the Shockoe Bottom area, once the site of America\u2019s second-largest slave market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The evening started with a ceremony honoring ancestors, inspired by the traditions of West Africa\u2019s Yoruba people, with attendees immersed in various meditative practices, including guided meditation, breathwork and shamanic drumming. \u201cI want this to be a cathartic experience for our people to release grief and so that we can heal and reconcile,\u201d said Hounsou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He acknowledged that the event, held at a site with such a traumatic history, could open painful wounds, \u201cBut by opening those wounds and acknowledging what once took place here, you are engaging a form of healing,\u201d the 60-year-old actor said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to achieve, healing of the intergenerational trauma of our [Black] people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Approximately 2,000 people gathered at Kanawha Plaza in downtown Richmond on September 21 to take on either a 16.19 kilometer or 6.19 kilometer cultural run or walk that took them through 400 years of Black history. The distance is a reference to the year 1619, when a ship first carried enslaved Africans to the shores of Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked why he chose a physical activity to bring people together, Hounsou said, \u201cThere are only very few things that allow you to massively bring people of all races together, which are sports and music.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along the route, race participants could engage with a mobile app developed in partnership with the 400 Years of African American History Commission, and narrated by Hounsou, which provided educational information and context about the sites that runners passed during their journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hounsou has plans to expand the event to Liverpool and Ouidah, Benin, over the next few years as a symbolic representation of the triangular route of the Transatlantic slave trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to reverse that triangle to be a triangle of hope,\u201d said Hounsou. \u201cI\u2019m trying to champion the idea that we all from every part of the world have a specific place where we come to honor our ancestors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Djimon Hounsou Foundation is also sponsoring carefully curated 14-day trips to the continent designed to showcase multiple countries, to deepen people\u2019s understanding of their heritage and identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI came to California with this compelling need to do something for my continent and my people and to champion this idea of reconciliation and reconnection with the motherland,\u201d Hounsou said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just hope that I have changed the narrative about our people and our continent.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Having grown up\u202fin the west African country of Benin,\u202fwhen two-time Oscar-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou immigrated to the US in 1990 to pursue his acting dreams, he felt a pain he could not ignore. \u201cI certainly felt a tremendous void, and that void is due to the lack of knowledge of who we are: our backstory, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,12],"tags":[7,30,14],"class_list":{"0":"post-40089","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-entertainment","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-culture","11":"tag-entertainment"},"yoast_head":"\n